Boat Fit
Published August 6, 2010 | 
This low down bitchin’ got my poor feet a itchin’,
You know you know the duece is still wild.
Baby, I can’t stay, you got to roll me
And call me the tumblin’ dice.
-stones
Before I go too deeply into boat fit here I want to be clear I’m mostly talking about sea kayaks and to some extent white water kayaks. Recreational boats that are shorter, wider and have a big opening on top simply will not provide the sort of fit we talk about when talking about rolling a kayak. This does not mean you can’t roll one, but it’s a challenge to say the least. Still, if you currently paddle one of these sorts of kayaks, you’re welcome to follow along as well. I’m sure we’ll cross a couple of useful points for you as well.
Symbiosis
How you fit into your kayak can be seen as an issue of control. Simply put, you need places where your body connects to the kayak in order to make it do what you want it to do. Of course that’s a little too authoritarian for my mind. Another more organic way to look at it is that on the water you become one with your kayak, it becomes your body, your skeletal structure and your skin. Your relationship to your craft is symbiotic. You don’t ride in a kayak, you become one with it. You are the heart and mind of the creature, where you connect is simply the nervous system reaching out to the skin sending and receiving messages. The more connections we have the more we are able to sense our environment and control our reaction to it. We are not paddlers but creatures of the sea.
What Low Impact Means
Published August 4, 2010 | 
WarChild dance the days, and dance the nights away.
Open your windows and I’ll walk through your doors.
Let me live in your country — let me sleep by your shores.
Tull
Low impact does not mean dainty, wimpy or weak. Low impact kayak rolling is not about modifying a powerful roll to make it easy on the old bones. If you think low impact means, low power you’re missing the point completely. What we’re really talking about is efficiency. Continue reading
Posted in Learn To Roll, Learning, Paddling | 
greenland paddling, Low Impact Rolling, rolling, Traditional PaddlingNo Sweep, No Plunk
Published August 3, 2010 | 
Today I want to offer up a few video clips to demonstrate mind over matter.. Or I should say, “body over paddle”. Let’s start with a couple vertical sculling rolls. These come from Greenland Style rolling and simply won’t allow you to push, pull or otherwise wank on your paddle blade. In the first clip I’m using a Greenland Paddle and it’s shot underwater. You can see that I do get a little purchase with the paddle, but the thing to watch here is the boat.
The Greenland Test
Published August 2, 2010 | 
You got me where you want me
I ain’t nothing but your fool
You treated me mean oh you treated me cruel
– Aretha Franklin
If your roll sucks I’ll know. It’s easy. Just put away that big blade and have a go with my Greenland paddle. Go ahead. C2C, Sweep, Modified Sweep.. whatever. Ok, I’ll even give you a warm up.. If you don’t roll after 2.. Um well… there it is then.
There’s a point where most every kayak roll becomes the same. It’s right at that moment when the paddler is who upside down, decides to roll up. At that moment the first thing you do, regardless of paddle, rolling style or technique, is roll the boat up. That seems obvious. Well, I’m not referring to the whole process of rolling the boat up, but only that millisecond right after the mind decides to engage the body in the process of rolling. At that moment, it’s all about the boat. It’s also the point where most of our energy is expended IF we’re doing it right. Continue reading
Posted in Learn To Roll, Learning, Paddling | greenland paddling, Low Impact Rolling, roll, rolling, Traditional PaddlingArms Down
Published July 13, 2010 | 
You can poison my cat / Baby I don’t care
But if you talk in the movies / I’ll kill you right there
It’s just the little things
Yeah it’s the little things
That drive me wild
– alice cooper
Rolling a kayak is easy. Learning it is hard. Teaching it, even harder. As instructors we know how easy rolling is, which can make us blind to all the little things you need to do right to get your roll consistent. My major focus as an instructor has always been body control. I hate the C to C roll for sea kayakers because I find it disappointing for the students and way to much fun for the instructors because they get to spend so much time talking and demonstrating. The C to C is also all about testosterone in the beginning which runs totally against many students natures.. I could go on and on, and I will (I’m sure) but for the moment I want to tell you where I was cocking things up… Continue reading
Swimmer’s Ear (Again)
Published June 25, 2010 | 
Hey! Don’t come around here no more
Don’t come around here no more
Whatever you’re looking for
Hey! Don’t come around here no more
-petty
Sorry I’ve disappeared for a couple days. I’ve been in the bowels of hell fighting a just battle against a hoard of demons… or put another way.. I have swimmers ear again. I can’t even begin to describe the amount of pain I’ve been enjoying. For 3 days now I’ve been up most nights and caught only winks of sleep during the day. To make matters worse, when the doc called in the prescription our insurance company decided they didn’t like the meds and required a new one (neomycin).. (or I could pay over $100.00 out of pocket for the Ciprodex). That delay meant another day until I finally got meds.. Joy.. Continue reading
Amy’s Roll
Published June 8, 2010 |
This is Amy rolling her kayak in Milwaukee a couple weeks back. Amy is a fantastic kayak coach, photographer and owner of Climer Consulting in Madison, WI. I have absolutely nothing to add, other than it’s a rainy day here in cheeseland and I’ve got to get on the road to take my son to visit the doc. So.. well, enjoy Amy’s roll.
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